The Immortal Four
by Starkey1840
Summary: Season 6 rewritten NO flash sideways stuff! Will be mostly about Jacob/MIB/OFC. Will also be Kate and Sawyer centric.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own LOST, anybody who is affiliated with it, or the characters (although I wouldn't mind owning Sawyer and Mr. Eko).

**Chapter 1: Time Travel is Such a Complicated Nuisance**

"What are you waiting for, you son of a bitch!" The bleeding Juliet screamed as she hit the H-bomb repeatedly with the rock, with as much strength as she had left in her broken body. She wasn't going to die a horrible death for nothing. She wasn't going to give up happiness with James and sacrifice the chance to ever see Rachel again for nothing.

She wanted to end it all. The island. The goddamned island that had brought her every emotion a human can feel over six years... within three decades. Time travel is such a complicated nuisance. Daniel Faraday knew that… especially when his younger mother shot and killed him mistakenly thinking he was an enemy… and then gave birth to him a few months later. And after the woman he loved bled to death in his arms because human brains can't always handle jumps through time-space.

They were all coming to realize that. Every single person involved in the time travel.

And as Juliet finally succeeded in her final goal, a bright white light appeared and that was the last thing any of them remembered.

That bright white light in 1977 would become known as "The Incident". Out of all of them, Miles was right. They all looked down on him for being just some pot-headed medium who could talk to ghosts. And it turns out he was smarter than a theoretical physicist and a spinal surgeon. Kate had an idea as well that setting off an H-bomb was never a good thing. Of course, out of all of them, she was the least affected by the time travel. She was only an infant in 1977, and would have no connections with the island for 27 years, except for "Jacob's Touch".

Miles deducted that setting off the H-bomb wouldn't prevent The Incident from occurring. It WOULD BE The Incident! Had they really succeeded at preventing the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, they would have never crashed on the island to have gone back in time in the first place. He would have never been on the damned freighter. Faraday, it seems, was wrong about the Variables. Nevertheless, it was his destiny to be wrong about the Variables. It was his destiny to die at the hands of his own mother. She raised him up for that one purpose: to go back in time and be killed by her so that The Incident could occur.

Alternate timelines are nothing more than theories. And after The Incident, they were right back where they started – 2007. Only Juliet was dead. At the bottom of the shaft. Sawyer tried in vain to save her… almost like a madman. Kate helped him, despite never caring much for Juliet. She did care about Sawyer and didn't want to see him broken-hearted. By the time they finally got to her, it was too late. Juliet helped him to get over Kate's "death". Now that Juliet was dead and Kate was alive and well, the tables would be turned.

Out of everyone who had ever died on the island, Juliet was the bravest. How many people can say they died by setting off an H-bomb while lying right next to it?

Sayid was close to death as well, but there was still hope for him. He was a Candidate, after all.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: John Locke or Not John Locke?

The Man in Black sat silently, staring into the flames. It was about time for the other Candidates to come back from 1977. He had promised to reunite Sun with Jin, and, although he was a liar, he intended to keep that promise. Although he despised humans, he didn't despise them all equally. He had nothing personal against Sun, with the exception that she was one of Jacob's "chosen", so he had no problems with giving her what she wanted.

He had met so many people over the past several centuries… for such an isolated place people sure did come and go a lot. Hell, they even managed to move the island on occasion!

Out of all of them, there was only one for whom he felt deeply. Although he didn't like to admit it, one of the reasons why he promised to reunite Sun with Jin is because he knew what it was like. For her, it had only been 3 years since she had separated from Jin. For the Man in Black, it had been over a century. He had gone about 130 years without seeing or hearing from the only woman who had ever touched his heart. If what he had could even be considered a heart… When he was in his Smoke form, he retained every single memory of her. Every single detail.

The last time he had seen her was in the 1880s. Out of nearly 2,000 years of loving her, he only spent about 25 of them with her. He knew she had come back a few times since then, but she never sought him out. She sought Jacob out, sure, but never him. How she managed to keep him from detecting her exact whereabouts when on the island, he didn't know. Though he suspected Jacob had something to do with it.

And that was why he hated her so deeply. He hated Jacob too, and even more so because of her. The Man in Black only felt two emotions where she was concerned: deep love and deep hatred. He could never compromise with her. He could never just "let her be". She was either all his, or dead. She betrayed him with Jacob. He would kill her if he could right now, but he knew Jacob and the Island both protected her from him.

But then, death might not even be enough to get rid of her forever. After all, the woman had a tendency to pop up randomly in time. How she managed to time travel so effortlessly only the island itself knew.

She had promised him to help him leave the island, but Jacob somehow convinced her otherwise. On his "Things to do when I get off the island" checklist, murdering her was #1. He wanted to wrap his hands around that pretty neck of hers and squeeze and squeeze. Or maybe he would just stab her in the heart, like she did his.

He would enjoy watching the life leave her hazel eyes… which were a mixture of all of the autumn's colors... green, brown, gold, and even some red. Having spent eternity on the hot, tropical island, her eyes were the closest thing to autumn he had ever seen.

The first time he looked into those eyes were the second time they looked into his. The second time he looked into them was the first time they looked into his. And this is why he, better than anybody, knew about the annoyances of time travel. He knew, better than anybody, that What Happened, Happened, and that destiny was a fickle bitch.

"John?" a voice brought him out of his thoughts. Sun's. "You should be sleeping." He told her. "John." How he hated that name. How he hated John Locke. And here he was, stuck in John Locke's body. "I can't sleep." she said. "I can only think of Jin." She was starting to annoy him. He felt like giving her immortality just to make her wait a few hundred years, out of spite, but then realized he didn't have that kind of power anymore. Not since he took over John's body. Besides, he didn't want to put up with her for longer than he had to.

He forced himself to smile John Locke's smile, except that the warmth in John's blue eyes was no longer there.

"Don't worry, Sun. I promised you. You'll see Jin soon. As long as you stick with me, I'll help you two get back to Seoul."

"I only hope so." She said. It was obvious she didn't wholly trust him. "I just want Jin to meet our little girl."

"And he will." He tried smiling again. The light from the flames almost made her shiny black hair appear blue. He supposed that if he were an ordinary mortal man, he would find her attractive.

"What's going on?" Another voice asked. Less feminine. More annoying.

"Nothing, Ben. Don't you people ever sleep?" He asked, jokingly. Except that he really wasn't joking.

He still couldn't make up his mind whether he wanted to thank Linus for killing Locke and making Locke's body available to him for possession, or punish him for it. He missed his old body, but knew that he needed to take Locke's appearance in order for his plans to come into fruition. He also knew that he needed Linus in order to kill Jacob for him.

And if SHE was there with Jacob, he would partake in some killing, himself.

"We have a long way to go, tomorrow. We need to find Richard and the Others." he said. "And then I'm going to have you to take me somewhere, Ben."

"_Me?"_ Linus replied. "I thought YOU were the omniscient one, John. Weren't you supposed to take us somewhere?" "What about my husband?" Sun asked again. "Aren't we going to look for him?"

"Okay, folks! Just wake a guy up, why don't you?" Chimed in another voice. The pilot's.

"Obviously we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. I need Ben to do me a favor, and I promised Sun to help her find Jin. So why don't the three of you just get some rest?"

"WHAT favor? What can I possibly do for YOU?"

"I really want to find Jin!"

"If you really know how to fix my plane, I'd appreciate it if we'd get started ASAP."

The Man in Black sighed. His three companions were REALLY starting to get on his nerves.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Answers from Jacob

The blond man sat in the center of the statue… of what was left of it, anyway. What once was a giant statue of Tawaret, built by Egyptians who made their way to the island many millennium before, was reduced to a foot with four toes.

He knew they were coming for him. Two parties. One led by his leading Candidate, the handsome, green-eyed doctor, and the other led by his brother and enemy, in the form of John Locke. He had sent some of the Others to find the group of time travelers and to guide them to him. He knew that Mr. Reyes would show them the contents inside of the guitar case as proof that their Candidacy. He figured they would want their friend, the soldier, to be healed. He knew that his brother was coming for two reasons: one, to confront him…. Again…. As he did at least once a decade. And two… to see if SHE was with him. She wasn't. Jacob had sent her off of the island for the last time in the 1980s. He had recently paid her a visit in the States before giving Reyes the guitar. She still wasn't aging. Like Richard, she was more than a century and a half old, and still looked young. She had given herself, Richard, him, and his brother the nickname "The Immortal Four". She loved him and his brother both, and the day would come when she would have to choose.

He was more than willing to let her and his brother be, except that he knew she would help him leave the island. So he took her and separated them. He gave her immortality and eternal youth in return. Even though she was the only thing in existence that ever gave his brother any amount of happiness, he still had to keep them apart. His only goal was to keep his brother ON the island, and he would do so, at all costs.

And it would be a lie to say that he didn't love her himself. He always had, since they first met her in the 1st century AD. Only his love for her was more of the gentle kind, whereas his brother loved her passionately and almost madly. His brother was mad enough as it was. Without her, he was a monster with an uncontrollable rage.

Still, he had to keep them apart. He couldn't have the monster leaving the island, after all. Even though she was born in 1840, they had both known her for nearly 2,000 years due to the island's ability to send her back through time.

It was the group of mortals who got to him first. The Candidates, led by the handsome American doctor. Jacob was surprised that the blond Southerner was with them, despite his everlasting hatred for Jack, and the fact that he blamed Jack for Juliet's death.

"Hello, Mr. Shepherd." He said. "I know you all have questions. But first, I will heal your friend." "Who are you?" Jack demanded. "Are you really Jacob?"

"Yes, I'm Jacob, as my acquaintances undoubtedly told you. Since Mr. Jarrah is beyond a doctor's help, I will heal him."

"Oh! Is that? You can just heal anybody? Well, why'd you let Juliet die? Just who the hell are you and what the hell;s goin' on?" Sawyer demanded, stomping toward Jacob angrily. "Doctor Burke, bless her heart, was never a Candidate. It was Benjamin Linus who brought her here for his own selfish purposes, not I." Jacob said as he placed his hands over the dying Sayid. "It was you and Miss Austen who saved his life in 1977, after all. He just never could forget the lovely lady doctor who took care of him as a child."

Sawyer started yelling some more, something about wanting to know why Linus couldn't remember the rest of them if he could remember Juliet, but Jacob ignored him as he focused on summoning healing energy from the island. It took a few minutes, but the soldier's wounds began to close up, and the blood subsided. He would be unconscious for a while, but he would be okay. Only Jacob had the ability to harness the healing energy of the island. His brother had the ability to harness the evil energy from the island. And that was why he could never, ever let his brother leave. He would take that evil energy with him wherever he went, even if he didn't want to. It was his destiny to be a physical manifestation of darkness, just as it was Jacob's destiny to be a physical manifestation of light.

He told the Others to leave, and to keep an eye out for "John Locke" and Richard. He knew, of course, that if his brother wanted in, nothing or nobody could stop him, but he wanted to be alone with his Candidates.

"All righty then. The murdering Arab's gonna be fine. Of course you save the guy who shot a kid, but not the woman who tried to help the kid. It's nice to know that the ruler of this island is a hypocritical hippie jackass." Sawyer was still rambling on with his usual sarcasm. His Southern accent kind of reminded Jacob of HER. He figured she would like Sawyer. With her feistiness, they would definitely get along.

Jacob sighed and responded. "Once again, I don't have free will over who I can save and who I can't save. And I am NOT the ruler of this island. The island rules itself. I can only do what it tells me."

"What? Are you trying to say that this damn island is ALIVE? You're startin' to sound just like John Locke." Sawyer responded.

"Yes, Mr. Ford, as strange as it may sound to you, this island is alive."

"Alive as in… sentient?" The doctor asked, incredulously. The Jack of three years ago would have laughed. This Jack was actually intrigued by the thought that land could have a mind of its own.

"There have always been stories and legends of mystical, magical places," Jacob started. "And this is the center of it all. This island is where different worlds collide. Where a balance between light and dark is maintained. There have been many names for it. The Greeks once called it Atlantis. The Celts called it Lyonesse. Oriental cultures called it Shambalah or Shang'ri La. And when it was located in the North Atlantic, the Scandinavians called it Valhalla. And, of course, the Judeo-Christians called it the Garden of Eden. This island is all of those places."

"What did you mean by 'Candidacy'"? Kate asked. "Yea, dude." Hurley piped in. "A candidacy for what?"

Jacob sighed. This is the question he had been dreading. "The truth is, I have been the protector of this island for nearly 2,000 years. It has been my duty to keep the balance between light and dark maintained. It's been my duty to protect this island from outsiders who would exploit it and use its resources. I admit that I am the one who suggested to Mr. Linus to 'take care' of the Dharma Initiative, if you will. While I do admire their interest in the island's scientific and metaphysical properties, it got to the point where they were causing too many problems. Of course, you didn't help…. Setting off that bomb and all. But I forgive you. The island forgives you.

That's why you were transported back to the present time instead of being gassed with the rest of the Dharma Initiative."

"If the island didn't want us to set off the bomb, why did it send us back through time in the first place?" Jack asked.

"You can blame that on Ms. Hawkings for forcing her son to become a physicist. And on Mr. Whidmore for allowing him to come to the island. And, of course, on Mr. Linus for messing up when he moved the island. The island gives some people free will, and takes it from others. It's not my place to ask why."

"I only care to know one thing," Jin finally joined in. "Where is my wife? Is she really here? All I've ever wanted was to see her again." His English had come a long way over the past 3 years.

"Don't worry. She's nearby. You'll see her soon. You are both my candidates, after all. All of you are. I'm just tired. After 2,000 years of doing this… I want someone to take my place. I just want to live a normal life and to finally grow old and die. There is someone out there, one of your fellow Americans, with whom I want to spend the rest of my days. All I want is a few decades of happiness, living as a normal human. Is that too much to ask? Is any of you willing to take this job?"

"Why us?" demanded Kate. "Why are we your candidates? Where is Claire? I just want to find her and take her back to Aaron." "And I just want to get off this hell-hole and get back to the States. Go back to ripping people off and being a general bastard. It's my lot in life." Sawyer exclaimed.

"Why *you*? Because you the ones who were lost. You thought you were lost when you got here, but the truth is, you were always lost. You found yourselves here. I'm going to start being informal with you all, now. I hope you don't mind if I address you by your first names. Jack, before you came here, you were a successful spinal surgeon. However, you were unhappy. You were miserable. Your wife left you. You blamed yourself for your father's death. You had nothing but your career, and that brought you no happiness. To make up for the lack of organization in your life, you were obsessed with 'fixing' your patients.

James, you were a conman. You ripped people off for money. You had been lost for years – ever since your parents' deaths. You never knew any happiness until you were with Kate… and then, with Juliet.

Kate, you had been on the run for so long. You always wanted to help people, but all you ever did was cause them pain. Your intentions were good, but we all know where the road to good intentions leads… so I brought you here for a chance to save yourself before going to hell.

Jin. You were lost somewhere between your love for your wife and your loyalty to her father. In order to be with Sun you knew you had to do whatever her father told you to do. But the things he told you to do were tearing you apart from Sun. She was very disappointed in you.

Hugo, you were lost in your guilt. You won all of that money, and your life was miserable because of it. You felt that the numbers were cursed and wanted to somehow undo the curse. You were at wit's end.

And Sayid… don't even get me started on him. Just wait until he comes through. He should wake in a little while."

"So your bringing us here was intentional. What about the others on the plane? All those innocent people who have died just so you could get us here!" Jack was beginning to get angry. "And what about John Locke? WHAT ABOUT JOHN?" Jack grabbed Jacob by his collar and began yelling in his face. "He knew all of this better than any of us, and now he's gone! John died because I didn't believe him, DAMMIT!"

"I wasn't responsible for John's death. I couldn't heal him in time. And for that, I'm terribly sorry."

"Don't be! Here he is!" The Man in Black said, standing at the entrance of the statue, smirking.

"John?" The Candidates all gasped in shock.

"No. This isn't John." Jacob answered, wearyingly. "This is my brother."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Century 1

The Man in Black dug and dug, obsessed with finding whatever was on the other side. Some of the men told him that it would lead to a way off the island. The secret to getting off of the island lies somewhere in its core. He only wished Jacob would help him. But he gave up on Jacob years ago. They spent their first fourteen years of life together and went their separate ways. They still met occasionally, but Jacob didn't want to leave Mother. He was always loyal to her, even though she wasn't the one who gave birth to them. Mother had murdered the woman who gave birth to them… had bashed her head in right after he came out of her. She didn't plan on giving birth to twins, and only had one name chosen. Jacob came out first, so he was given that name. Her head was bashed in before she could give Him a name.

And so he had always been the Unnamed one. The other people on the island had given him names, but he never cared for any of them. Never liked any of them. He was content with being nameless.

Maybe when he finally found his way off the island, he would allow himself the luxury of a name. But for now, only one thought occupied his mind: DIG.

Little did he know that the core of the island would actually contain the answers to time itself. It wouldn't just be a portal to the outside world, it would be a portal through time and space. He was aware that the island brought people to it via the sea, but never via time itself.

He had seen plenty of strange things, including the spirit of his birth mother. But nothing could have prepared him for seeing HER. Perhaps the island knew that he was lonely without Jacob. Perhaps the island knew that she was lonely without her family. The island brought the two of them together in the strangest ways.

And so it came to pass that one day, while digging, he found his way off the island. It wasn't a ship. It wasn't a flying carriage. It wasn't a tunnel that led across the sea.

It was a pair of eyes. A pair of eyes that would haunt him for the rest of eternity.

It took him awhile, but he eventually managed to build a contraption which would allow him to harness the electromagnetic energy of the island. Of course, in those days, the concept of electromagnetic energy wasn't understood. It was simply "power" or "life energy". Some called it "mana". He didn't care what it was. To him, it was a means off the island. And he intended to use it and take advantage of it.

Mother didn't like it.

She had been the island's caretaker for thousands of years. She had been there when the Egyptians came. When the Chinese came. When the Africans came. And, more recently, when the Romans and Greeks came.

She came before all of them, with the Sumerians. The Hebrews were already present when they arrived. They had claimed that they were descended from the first man and first woman who lived there, and that the island was cursed because of them.

They had somehow offended their God. Whether that was true or not, she didn't know. Nor did she care. She just did her job. That was 5,000 years ago. Most had either left or died. Cultures came and went. They built their statues and prayed to their gods. But none of them had any interest in taking her place.

Until one, lone pregnant woman came. The guardian took care of her until she gave birth, not to just one baby, but two. The first one the woman named Jacob. He had a lightness in his eyes. The woman didn't name the second one. She only had one name picked out. This one was different. His eyes were a deep, dark gray, yet there was a darkness in them. There was something unhuman about him.

IT was then that she decided that she wanted to take care of these babies herself. She would raise them up to take her place as guardians, so that she could finally be free of her duty. Two of them would do just fine. The task was difficult for one person. She should know. So why not let TWO people take over?

Yes, that's what she would do. The island was under her care. These children were born on HER island, therefore they were HER children. With that thought, she grabbed a rock and began beating the mother in the head, over and over, with madness, until her blood and brains were splattered over the place. When she was finished, she noticed that much of the blood had splattered on the second one – the dark child.

And 40 years later, that dark child had grown into a dark man. His eyes were still deep and steely gray, but his hair was dark. His clothes were dark. He was at around six feet, which was fairly tall for a Roman. Jacob was taller, but more gentle. Jacob was golden-haired and still had light in his eyes. The few women who lived on the island wanted them both, but neither had any interest. Jacob didn't because he was wary of any humans. The nameless one didn't because the only thing he desired was power and freedom.

Jacob was content with living his life on the island. The nameless one was not. He only wanted to see the world, though he didn't know why. He yearned to get off the island. His real mother had come from a place called Rome when he was still in her womb. Why his island Mother wouldn't let him return to Rome, she never explained, though he suspected that she was wanting to manipulate him and Jacob to do something for her. Well, let her manipulate naive, innocent Jacob. She wouldn't manipulate him!

He managed to harness the energy, though he wasn't sure how to use it just yet. He only knew how to accumulate it.

And because of an accident, or perhaps fate, she came to him. He didn't know what he did to bring her to him, but there she was, standing in front of him, looking at him with eyes to which he felt a connection. He knew those eyes somehow, even though it was his first time staring into them.

"Esau". She said, her voice a mixture of familiarity and shock.

It was then that he noticed that there was more to her than her eyes. She looked to be at least fifteen years younger than him. Her hair was thick and wavy. Though she was taller than the other women on the island, she was still small compared to him. The top of her pretty head only reached his chin.

And she was dressed strangely. Like somebody from a different world… a different time.

"Esau" she repeated. And then she put her hand up to her mouth and gasped. She looked around in both horror and realization, as if she knew exactly where she was, but couldn't believe that she was there.

And the next thing she did surprised him. Before he could ask her what she meant by calling him "Esau", she actually had the audacity to LEAP onto him, throwing her small arms around his neck, and almost toppling him over. If nearly 30 years of digging hadn't made him so strong, she probably WOULD have knocked him over.

His first thought was surprise, his second thought was to push her away in anger, and his third thought, which shocked him, was that her body actually felt nice pressed up against his. Her face was pressed into his neck. Her hair tickled his chin.

For the first time in his life, he actually felt aroused. With the exception of Jacob, he knew that the other males on the island felt aroused at times. They disgusted him. Up until this point, he had been an asexual being. Now, having this strange little female pressed up against him, he felt desire for her AND disgusted with himself for desiring her.

"I've missed you! Why did you leave me and Richard?" Being a 1st century Roman and all, he didn't understand American-English. Still, he found himself strangely connected with her voice, just as he had with her eyes. He finally found himself touching her back, placing large, dirty hands on her arms, letting them linger for a second before pushing her away… probably more roughly than he should have, but he had no experience with women, after all.

She looked up at him in surprise as she stumbled back. She came closer to toppling over than he did when she first threw herself at him. He hadn't realized he had pushed her so roughly, and wasn't for sure why he actually cared.

"Esau?" She asked hesitatingly.


End file.
